Is It Any Wonder Why We Call Them ‘Lame’?

It may seem like a small thing, considering the state of the union and international issues of the day, but let me share some facts surrounding a most recent illustration of the untrustworthiness of America’s mainstream media.

Yesterday, Todd and I spent our Memorial Day evening exchanging emails with NBC in regards to the interview they conducted this morning with our new neighbor. As you’ll recall, the “journalist” Joe McGinniss moved all the way from Massachusetts to Wasilla – literally right next door to our home – after tracking us down in various forums this past year, so that he could be close to his “subject matter” while he writes his book about me.

When NBC asked to interview me for this story, I politely declined. NBC then asked for a statement from us and promised to run it as a full screen graphic during their interview with McGinniss. We were glad to provide a statement and appreciated NBC’s promise to run it. Todd and I both crafted the statement very carefully because our new neighbor has taken to accusing us of “inciting hatred” – a charge which we obviously take very seriously. We knew that he would make more accusations like this, and we felt very strongly that such comments should not go unanswered. So, we emailed NBC the following statements:

“McGinniss has followed us for some time now, from showing up on our doorstep last winter, bidding over $60,000 for a military charity auction dinner with me, writing the hit pieces, attending at least one Outside book event, etc. He has a right to pursue his subject, I suppose, and certainly has a right to live wherever he wants, but my family also has a right to expect privacy, and hopefully to enjoy peace this summer. Good fences do make for good neighbors. The fence is now up, and I hope that we can enjoy peace. The media sensationalizes the recent McGinniss’ tactic so the public will tune in to whatever the latest episode is, always with ratings in mind, and that’s unfortunate.” – Sarah Palin

But there was just one problem: NBC broke their promise and didn’t run our statements after all. So, the “journalist’s” sensational claims about us being Nazis went unchallenged. We emailed NBC this morning to ask why our statement wasn’t aired. We were given a lame excuse and told that they would run it tomorrow (after the damage had been done) and that they would be happy to interview me about it (which was their aim all along because journalism today is all about ratings and not about truth).